Seizinger Scores First Super-G Win of Season

Mammoth Mountain, CA, November 29, 1997--Germany's Katja Seizinger started her World Cup season as well as she finished the previous one: with a win in the Super-G.
At Mammoth Mountain, the 25-year-old Downhill Olympic Champion won the first Super-G of the winter, just ahead of the reigning World Champion, Isolde Kostner, from Italy, and the veteran of the women's tour, Germany's Katrin Gutensohn.
Katja also a winner here at Mammoth last Spring, won the closing Super-G of the season last spring at Vail. There, she also grand-slammed, by finishing in the top-3 of all four alpine events.
Three other Germans skied into the top ten today, confirming the strength of this team. Hilde Gerg, winner of the World Cup parallel event on Friday, Nov. 28, took fifth despite a big mistake on the middle of the course. The reigning Super-G World Cup champion had clocked the second best intermediate time only 32/100 behind Seizinger. Regina Haeusl placed seventh, just in front of Martina Ertl. The World Cup downhill champion from Austria, Renate Goetschl, managed a promising fourth place, while the best Swiss, Heidi Zurbriggen, was only 11th.
In absence of the 1996 downhill World Champion Picabo Street--who awaits the competition at Val d'Isere, in France, to mark her comeback to racing, one year after her bad crash at Vail--the best US skier was Kirsten Clark in 27th position.
Seizinger, who celebrated her 29th World Cup win in her career, is now leading the winner's list in the Super-G, with 13 successes, in front of France's Carole Merle, who has 12. This excellent performance puts her back on track for the Overall World Cup title. She has only won that once--in 1996--but has come very close in other years.
Last year, she was second to Pernilla Wiberg. She also came second in 1993 to Austria's Anita Wachter and second again in 1995 to Switzerland's Vreni Schneider. In 1992 and 1994, she finished third.
"I had bad luck in the recent GS races and it's nice to get this early-season win in the Super-G," Katja said, after the race. "The conditions were great today with this beautiful weather. Super-G is a good event for me because you have to race with a lot of feeling and much instinct. It's a fun race."
She added that today's success will arm her mentally for her next World Cup round. "This win will boost my morale before the next downhills at Lake Louise, where I return with great expectations. I have always skied well there." In fact Katja, who has dominated that specialty from 1992 to 1995, won her only downhill at Lake Louise last winter.
As usual, a cautious Seizinger doesn't want to make any prediction regarding her chances to clinch another Overall World Cup title. "Its way too early," she said. "I take each race as it comes, this is the only tactic for a successful season. I wish to be more consistent in the speed events and healthy at the Olympics".
Second-place Kostner, was also pleased by her performance today--her best Super-G result since her World Championship win at Sestriere.
"My season start in GS has been rather disappointing so far and it's good to be back among the top-three," the Italian said. "I'm not such a great glider on soft snow, so I'm really pleased. I was fourth here last Spring."
Also victorious was third-place skier Katrin Gutensohn, a double World Cup Downhill champion in the late '80s. A World Cup racer since 1982, the Austrian-born German, hasn't finished among the top three since 1994. She scored her last downhill win in 1991. In 1985, she was second in the downhill in the World Championships at Bormio, Italy. Last winter, she missed the bronze medal only by few tenths of a second at Sestriere. She will turn 32 next March, a week after the finals at Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
The women's World Cup tour will resume next week at Lake Louise, Alberta, with two downhills and a Super-G. Despite recent warm temperatures in the region, the course conditions are expected to be good at this beautiful resort in the Canadian Rockies.

Did not finish 1st run:
HEEB Birgit (LIE), SCHUSTER Stefanie (AUT), WELF Sovrana (ITA), BRACUN Spela (SLO), GUARAGLIA Amber (USA), MASNADA Florence (FRA), MERLIN Barbara (ITA), PRETNAR Spela (SLO)